I just bought a Ruger ranch rifle, bolt action, in 450 Bushmaster.

I couldn't resist. the price was right, in my estimation.

I had been thinking about it for some time. So, I put myself on the "notify" list at Midway.

I've been checking daily, every morning, to see if it came in stock. I checked first thing this morning - not in stock. About mid-day today I went online again and noticed they listed it in-stock. So, I ordered one immediately. The order went through.

But, immediately they listed it out of stock, no backorder. And they increased the price $20.

Then I checked my email and found no notice of in-stock.

Apparently whatever shipment they got sold pronto. I just happened to order the last one.

I decided I wanted one because:

I've watched several youtube videos of review and saw nothing to turn me away.

It's light and handy and has a synthetic stock. 5.5 pounds, not counting a scope or ammo.

The twist rate is the same as the 45 long colt: 1:16". It's like the 45 Colt plus P. Rebated rim.

The bullet diameter it uses is .452; the same as 45 Long Colt and 45 ACP.

The barrel length is 16" and is threaded for suppressor.

It comes with a picatinny rail and no sights.

It uses AR 15 magazines, (big bore) as I understand it.

It has an adjustable trigger.

It requires no finicky gas port to operate at subsonic, which is basically the 45 LC cowboy load.

I can handload it with blunt nose bullets such as for the 45 LC.

I can run it faster or slower than std 45 LC ammo.

Brass is readily available, and bullets too.

It's not going away. The cartridge very popular. Factory ammo is available.

Dies and case gauges are readily available.

It didn't cost a bunch.

And, I don't have to wait for a gunsmith to put it together.

So, what do you think about this?

these are some of the bullets of choice:

https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...101086470?pid=788140

https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...101054983?pid=719430

https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...010843395?pid=555362

https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...010558981?pid=384854

They will eventually be in stock

All of the bullets you list are out of stock with no backorder!
I built 7 of them last year; they are legal here, and make very good deer and pig rifles.
No recoil, big hole in the barrel. Use any 45 pistol bullet. Kills fast. What's not to like? Ok, you can't shoot stuff at 350 yards, but we don't need that here anyway.

Yes, the bullets I listed are out of stock for now.

But they will be in-stock at some time. There are other choices meanwhile.

Primers seem to be the biggest problem. I haven't found any in stock anywhere.

Fortunately, I have an adequate supply - for now.

I need to get some brass on order. Apparently, this case can't be formed from something else. At $1.00 each, another good thing is it will be easier to find the fired cases with the bolt action compared to the AR.

Actually, I'm a bit surprised as to how popular this cartridge is, apparently. It took me a while to get over my bias about it, and study the specs and possibilities, especially in a bolt action like the Ruger.

And another thing - I had a bias against the Ruger ranch rifle. I couldn't believe they could make and sell a rifle of any quality for such a low price. But the reviews changed my mind. Actual testing will resolve the issue. Small risk, IMO.

The thing is that it is a real rifle in that the barrel is threaded into the receiver, and it has three locking lugs up front with a short bolt throw. Technically it seems right. We shall see.

For my local deer hunting, it is great. Much better than rifled slugs, now that we can use straight wall cartridges.

It's a great carbine caliber. The recoil will surprise you. It is not excessive at all but it does produce more recoil than the other mainstream AR cartridges. It is one of a few AR calibers to successfully make the jump to bolt rifles.

I don't understand the rationale behind some of the state regs regarding the straight wall cartridges.

Anyway, that's not my purpose or concern.

And, BTW, I'm not worried at all about the recoil. And, I plan to remove the muzzle brake. I can't stand the things. Too much blast, IMO. I'll replace it with a simple thread protector, for a while anyway. I wear hearing muffs at the bench - always.

My shooting range is my back yard - unlimited and exclusive access. 1000 yds if I desire. Fresh deer tracks daily. Also, I have a small room that I built setup for reloading exclusively. So far, its proven to be too small.

Because straight walled cartridges typically have less maximum range than a typical bottlenecked one. They don't want idiot party hunters lobbing bullets into a farm 4.75 miles away. And we have plenty of party hunters here, who blast away at movements in the brush, and for which it is a social gathering; and the risk of getting killed is very high. And state legislatures are not filled with firearms experts.
The Ruger is built on the American action; a very good platform.
I build all mine on either Mauser 91s or 98s. I'm not talking about ARs; any 12 year old can assemble one; like tinker toys.
If you want to know the true capability of that Ruger, contact theback40, here. He resizes 458 bullets for his and shoots through two bears at once. Bears are like varmints there, nuisances to be exterminated.
Another disconcerting phenomenon is now occurring here; guys are abandoning the 450 and buying nothing but 350 Legends. It seems that younger hunters, and a lot of older ones too, can't take even the light recoil of the 450. It's sad to watch them.

As for brass; the 450 is a derivative of the 284 Win and you can make brass from that. However, you will probably have to neck ream/turn.
Below are my 450s; my fav is the second from the bottom; I put an AR magazine on a 98 Mauser action.
Although there feed perfectly from the original mag.

Magine, I think you have a very capable new tool in your locker. I messed around with an upper in the somewhat similar .458 SOCOM for a while. Recoil was Trapdoor Springfield .45-70 level. It was reasonably accurate, but didn't always feed smoothly despite using several different magazines that were supposed to help.
At the shooting range where I work, the Ruger Americans in the Ranch and Predator configurations are pretty popular. I see them in the Grendel, the Creedmoor, .308, 7.62X39, etc. A 74-year-old friend and Viet Nam vet uses his in 5.56 in a run and gun event near Fort Stockton, TX, because the barrel is so accurate for him.
Tom, I have said it before, but you build some very nice rifles.

dcpd, those rifles are very impressive. like an art form - very creative.

I used to be keen about Mausers and have several now. But, when I deviated much from the 8x57 or 7x57 sometimes I got feeding issues. I spent a lot of money trying to have it fixed. So, these days I've had all the Mausers I can stand.

I also have several AR15s, uppers and lowers. My favorite so far is the 6.5 Grendel. No feeding issues there.

I also have an Armalite AR10 in 308, and really like it. I learned a few days ago that another variant now dominates the industry - I think it's called the LR or DPMS version - not interchangeable with the Armalite AR10. Anyway, IMO the AR10 in whichever version in 308 is about the best hog hammer one can get. I just like playing with different combos.

I studied the specs for the 350 Legend and decided to not go there. I think it takes a .351 bullet, and I suspect the twist rate isn't right either.

Anyway, the 450 BM has the correct twist rate in the Ruger Ranch 1:16. I went with the bolt action because I want to tinker with reduced loads and didn't want to mess with feeding issues in the AR15 platform. I found some data using Trail Boss powder for subsonic loads.

BTW, I'm putting together an upper in 300 HAM'R with parts from Wilson Combat and Brownell. Everything is not here yet, but I should be able to shoot it in a few weeks.

Bill, I have a 458 SOCOM upper that I put together myself, with the proper tools. It has a Saturn barrel that I got from Brownell a few years ago, which is supposed to be a primer barrel. It cost enough so it ought to be. I too had feeding issues. But lately I bought some magazines from Brownell, designated specific for the 458 SOCOM and that seems to have cured the feeding problem. More testing is needed to be sure. I think it's gonna work out and that's another reason why I didn't want another upper in something that basically duplicates. My use for the 450 BM fills another niche.

I checked today, and the order shows "shipped". To a local FFL dealer of course.

I also ordered two boxes of Hornady 250 gr FTX ammo, and 100 pieces of brass and 100 Hornady 250 gr FTX bullets

I never have feeding problems with Mausers or anything else. Have to know how to do it, although the 450 will feed as is from a. 98 and even more smoothly from a 91, but that takes a slight bit of work. I don't pay anyone to do anything. Ok, bluing; too messy.
The 350 was designed as a 9mm. But it seems they didn't ask anyone, because we all wanted it to be a .357/8.
As for the Socom: when it came out, it was proprietary and you couldn't get anything, so I got a piece of Starline brass and had a reamer made; called it the 11.6 SPC so as not to get into trouble with the inventor. That was 20 years ago at least. It does not feed as well as the 450 without work on the upper. It's fat.

As for the AR-10, which is a trademark of the ArmaLite company, I have the first post 1950s AR-10 built. I also have the first AR-50 built, and which I named, but that is another story. There is another version of it, the DPMS, of which some parts are not totally interchangeable, and cannot be called an AR anything; that stands for Armalite Rifle. Contrary to popular belief. The DPMS has been around for several years now.

You hear stories about how Nilgai are hard to kill?
Not with the .458 Socom. It shoots through them just like a 45-70 does.
So does my .405 WCF, which is a notch above in MV.

Kabob, I tend to shoot a caliber long enough to see what it does, then on to the next.
The .450 has held my attention longer then most.
I got a 16" Ruger American as soon as it was out. I have the hunter model, as I don't like a big magazine sticking down where I want to have my hand.
I adjusted the trigger to my taste, pinned and epoxied that ridiculous glock trigger safety out of the way, and glassed the aluminum blocks they use for bedding. It would shoot ragged holes with almost any load.
I put a 3x leupold on it and got serious about loading. The brass lasts forever, your 100 cases will last until you loose them.
I found the blast acceptable with the brake on. No issue with muffs, and no worse then say a 22" 06 without muffs. Smallish powder charge I expect. I found the little extra weight it added to the end of the barrel was a help. Shooting my rolling tire target, it was faster on the point then without that extra few oz out there.
I have shot everything from 185 grn HP to 550 grn .458 swaged down.
My hands down fav. is the 300 grn Hawk spritzer. H. Lil'gun is the powder for the heavyer bullets. With the spritzer seated out, and the strong bolt action, 2100 fps is easy. So, more 45/70 then 45 colt for sure.
I don't keep track of how many of what I shoot. But many, many deer and bear have gone down to that bullet. Never took but one shot.
Longest was right about 200 yds on a good buck. That bullet and load has a 9" drop when sighted at 100 yds. Easy shot.
I have only recovered bullets when shooting quartering to me shots, usually from bears. I have sent dpcd recovered bullets found in the hams stopped at the skin. They measure .850 to .900 across at that point.
Measure the amount of taper crimp on your factory loads, and try to get the same amount on your handloads. Keeps velocity and accuracy where it should be.
Ugly little rifle that is delightful to swing on game, I'll get bored with it's consistent performance. Just, not yet!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Magine, I think you have a very capable new tool in your locker. I messed around with an upper in the somewhat similar .458 SOCOM for a while. Recoil was Trapdoor Springfield .45-70 level. It was reasonably accurate, but didn't always feed smoothly despite using several different magazines that were supposed to help.
At the shooting range where I work, the Ruger Americans in the Ranch and Predator configurations are pretty popular. I see them in the Grendel, the Creedmoor, .308, 7.62X39, etc. A 74-year-old friend and Viet Nam vet uses his in 5.56 in a run and gun event near Fort Stockton, TX, because the barrel is so accurate for him.
Tom, I have said it before, but you build some very nice rifles.

Just curious if you tried the Lancer mags, that's what I use for my socom, no feeding problems whatsoever.

quote:

Originally posted by hogfarmer:
Just curious if you tried the Lancer mags, that's what I use for my socom, no feeding problems whatsoever.

Two days ago I ordered two Lancer mags from Wilson Combat. They are 4 round capacity. In that rifle I don't need high capacity. I recall in their description, they say their shop modified the mags to feed the 450 SOCOM correctly.

They had them on sale. https://shopwilsoncombat.com/4...azines/products/485/

Previously I bought some mags from Brownells, and they are working right. https://www.brownells.com/maga...1-129917-235177.aspx

I just use the standard 30 round Lancers (10 rounds of 458 socom), I don't know how any modifications could make them feed any better than they do.

I also use my mags to differentiate between cartridges. 223 goes into plastic Pmags, 6.8 spc uses metal PRI mags and of course, the socom utilizes the metal/plastic hybrid Lancers. Helps prevent the embarrassment of loading the wrong cartridge in the wrong upper.

quote:

I don't know how any modifications could make them feed any better than they do.

If Wilson Combat figured they could be improved with some mods, that's good enough for me.

It seems that everyone has different experiences with feeding. I wish it was a constant - go or no go. I don't understand why it isn't that way.

My first experience with the 458 SOCOM it wouldn't feed right - jammed. I can't stand a rifle/action that jams.

I had some 223 magazines. So, I ordered a different follower that centered the round. Still jammed. The lip of the case was catching on the front of the mag. So I started grinding a U shape in the front of the mag, but before I got done with that experiment the new mags arrived from Brownells. So, I stopped there.

These new mags have the U shape already there. They don't catch the lip of the cartridge, and the follower centers the fat round, ulike the 223 follower.

I'm planning on trying those other mags, with the centering follower, in the Ruger 450 BM.

BTW, I doubt that I'll encounter a problem of which mag goes in which rifle/upper. I keep them separated and basically all I need to do is look at the cartridge on top. I presume it's a given that one knows which rifle he has in his hands. I do.

From studying the load data for the 450 BM, it looks like finding a suitable supersonic load will be relatively easy. The combo I'll try first will be Hornady 250 gr FTX with Lil' gun powder. Pretty std workup. I'll be surprised if I find a problem especially with the outcome.

I also ordered some 250 gr .452 Hornady bullets made for the 45 long colt. I'm planning on loading those subsonic using Trail Boss powder. I think that will be straight forward too, but won't know for sure till I try.

Hogfarmer, yes I did try a Lancer mag, and still had occasional feeding issues. I am starting to think that going Magine's route with a Ruger Ranch Rifle makes a great deal of sense.

I received the rifle today. So far, so good. Obviously, I haven't tested it yet, but I like what I see.

One thing - I was expecting to see AR15 type magazine. I'm pleased with what's there. I haven't tried the feeding yet.

I have to search for some extras.

And, BTW, it came with a thread protector for when I remove the brake.

Some brass (Star) arrived too. It appears to be sturdy.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Hogfarmer, yes I did try a Lancer mag, and still had occasional feeding issues. I am starting to think that going Magine's route with a Ruger Ranch Rifle makes a great deal of sense.

Feeding problems or chambering problems? I had chambering problems until I switched from a Hornaday sizing die to a Lee sizing die. I had occasional feeding problems with other mags, never with Lancers. Once I figured out the idiosyncrasies of the rifle it's as reliable as any I've ever owned.

A friend of mine has one. It’s good value for what it is. He’s had no feeding issues but the short barrel is very loud if you’re not using a suppressor.
Performance of factory ammo has been excellent on larger deer.

First thing I'm gonna do is remove the brake and replace it with a thread protector. Later I'll bet a flash hider.

I wear hearing muffs at the range.

I have two .452 bullets I want to try, both Hornady 250 gr., XTP handgun and FTX rifle.

I'm planning on using Trail Boss for the handgun bullet, close to subsonic max,
(1100 fps?) to emulate what the long Colt revolver ammo would do.

The other I plan to run it as fast as the laws of physics and chemistry will allow. (not Trail Boss)